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In the last 3 and a half years, we have had 3 babies and moved twice. That is a lot of change for a person, but can you imagine for a dog? And not just any dog, but our small, anxious maltipoo – bless her heart. Pippa has had a really tough time. I remember as a puppy she was very anxious. She is only four pounds, so she is really tiny and maybe some of her anxieties come from her size, but after a lot of reading about this breed I found that they seem to be very anxious dogs. Moving with kids is really hard. You have to deal with them acting out for a little while (like after any major event) and go through an adjustment period with them, but what is really hard to forget as a parent is that you also have a dog going through these same changes and adjustments.

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I will never forget the day that Ryan surprised me with our Maltipoo and first family pet, “Pippa.” It was on Christmas Eve – two months after we married. It was the biggest surprise I have ever had in my life. A maltipoo was my dream dog. She was the runt of her liter and was so tiny. She looked like a little fur ball. Two years later, when we had Hampton – our first child – she started acting out. I had heard that this would probably happen, but it was really bad. After our Sophie was born, she did it again. Honestly, I think it is because she wasn’t getting as much attention. It’s only natural, because we have two babies. Of course our dog isn’t going to come before them, but we do still love her to pieces and she needs a little extra attention every now and then to remind her that she is still special to us. So, how do you prepare your dog for a new baby?

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Ryan bought me my first puppy for our first Christmas together. We had talked about getting a small dog and found a breeder who had just had a liter of Maltipoos the day before we were married. Ryan contacted her and surprised me with her on Christmas eve. I instantly named her “Pippa.” Why? Because I love the royals and thought that Pippa was the perfect name for this spunky little ball of fur.

Pippa has always been a very loyal and loving dog. She is extremely cuddly and has bad anxiety when we leave her at home. During my pregnancy with Hampton, she laid beside me all the time. This pregnancy has been no different. She is always by my side, even when I go to the bathroom, she follows. Yes, she has prepared me well for parenthood.

Because of her loyal nature, I am always trying to give back to her when I can. Whether it be through a tummy rub, a snuggle or the perfect treat, she deserves the very best. When I was at Walmart the other day, I happened to pick up a few of the newNudges® Grillers and Sizzlers dog treats. With the new baby on the way, I know she will be going through a lot of changes and adjustments over the next couple of weeks. I did not want to leave her out by not doing anything special for her. These delicious treats are made in the USA with real meat as the #1 ingredient. They offer great nutrition for our sweet girl and they are very flavorful. She loves them so much that I just may have to go get her some of the new jerky cuts!

This Labor day weekend was spent celebrating our family. We started the weekend off by celebrating Ryan’s great-grandmother’s 90th birthday! She is the sweetest and most generous person. It was so much fun to see the family and enjoy time with her.

Sweet Tanner sporting his Auburn hat at Nanny’s party.

Later that day, we took a fairly spontaneous trip to Jax Beach. We decided at the very last minute to go. We celebrated my grandfather’s 80th and my grandmother’s 75th birthdays. We surprised them by showing up late that night. The weekend was very relaxing. Pippa seemed to enjoy the trip.

On Tuesday we went to a few used bookstores that we like to hit when we go down there and we hit the jackpot! 22 books for $19! Now we just have to find a place to put them all. We also lucked out and found a highchair for baby H! I’ve been looking every where for an old high chair like this one. It does need to be re-painted, but we have just added that onto our list of things to do before baby. I’m absolutely in love with it! We found it at a yard sale for $20. You can’t beat that!

Hello my lovelies!! First off I want to say welcome to all of my new followers! Thank you so much for taking the time to read my rambles!

Last weekend, our friends from Huntsville (north Alabama) came to town and we hung out with them, Shane and his wife Paige. Shane was diagnosed with stage 4 melanoma over the summer and has since gone through several surgeries, radiation and chemotherapy. He completed his last chemo treatment Wednesday! YAY SHANE! It was so much fun hanging out with our old college crew. I love them and miss them terribly. Unfortunately I did not get any pics of us (bad blogger right here).

Remember in this post when I wrote that I need to catch up on some history? This week, Ryan and I started taking a FREE online history class through Coursera. If you ever want to take a class but don’t want to spend any money and don’t care about credit, you should definitely check them out! While I was perusing their site, I also signed up for a couple of health and nutrition classes as well as social psych to brush up on my psychology. So apparently I’ve decided to go back to school…ha! It’s funny that the whole time I was in college all I wanted was to graduate, and now I miss it so much (nerd alert).

Yesterday, my crazy dog decided to play with a hanger and ended up getting it all twisted up in her collar. She started whining and freaking out, so obviously I was in the floor laughing and taking tons of pics…

Today, I’m going to be organizing, cleaning and catching up on my favorite blogs! I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

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Hello ladies! I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving and were as blessed as I was to share it with family and friends. Here is my Thanksgiving in pictures:

Our little family.

Some of the girls!

My cousins- Carrie-Grace and Lilly.

My sweet nephew Tanner.

God blessed us with this beautiful view of the sunset.

As for today, it is officially “Rival Saturday.” I will be avoiding Facebook because I have been known to delete annoying (Alabama) fans so it is easier to stay away. I am a Florida fan and Ryan is a big Auburn fan, so we will be yelling “Go Gators” and “War Eagle” all day.